


Salty Christmas

by Scrumpadouchus



Series: Star Guardian [2]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Guardians (League of Legends), F/F, F/M, Multi, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21896212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrumpadouchus/pseuds/Scrumpadouchus
Summary: Three months after Zoe's apparent defeat, the Star Guardians attempt to get Xayah to celebrate Christmas.
Relationships: Rakan/Xayah (League of Legends)
Series: Star Guardian [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577263
Comments: 6
Kudos: 81





	Salty Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> **PLEASE READ**  
>  ********* This is a direct **sequel** to our previous fic, Cracking Down the Spine. If you haven't read that first, this fic may confuse/spoil you. **You have been warned!** ***************
> 
> Thank you to everyone in Rakan mains that chat with us!!! It's so much fun to blast ideas with everybody, it gives us a lot of inspiration~ If not for you guys, this thing would never have been done this quick. I still can't believe it's up before Christmas. This should tie everyone over until the eventual sequel... we hope.
> 
> Lastly but most importantly, I hope everybody reading this has a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year!! <3  
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_This is a bad idea_ . 

Luxanna stares up at the door of the house once inhabited by Ahri and her old group, then hesitantly over towards the doorbell. _Xayah’s made a lot of improvements since Thanksgiving_. 

The white of the door is shiny and sleek with its fresh coat of paint. The rest of the house is slowly getting its clapboard repainted, from faded yellow to an azure blue. The front has been completely done but she had seen from the road that the sides were still incomplete. 

_At least she’s keeping busy_ . Lux shivers a bit in her coat, turns away from the house to grab one of the large cardboard boxes they’d loaded into the back of Soraka’s work van earlier that day. Mimi makes a little peep from inside her hood. 

Soraka beeps the horn of Pantheon’s bakery van once before she drives off. Ezreal and Lux wave once as goodbye, while Lulu and Neeko jump up and down, waving for a good minute after she turns onto a new street and goes out of sIght, headed back for her evening shift at the bakery. 

The lawn had been mowed, the group of guardians no longer had to wade through a veritable sea of snow-covered grass to get to the porch. Lux leads the way, Jinx next, followed closely by Lulu and Neeko. Ezreal stayed slightly back, almost wary. Lux sets her box down once she gets to the porch, her hand hovers over the doorbell. 

_It’s now or never Lux. This can’t be any worse than Thanksgiving_ . 

“Wow! Bird-lady’s been bu-sy!” Jinx whistles. “Where does she get the money for all this?” 

“Ahri said she’d take care of it. She said it was the least she could do.” Ezreal attempts to shrug, the large cardboard box in his arms jingles with the movement. Yuuto flies off his shoulder, spinning large circles around Lulu’s head. Pix makes a high pitched squeak and attempts to hide under Lulu’s winter hat. 

“Damn. Luxy, do you or Gare-bear have a secret fortune you’re not telling your sisters about? Because we could really use a new bathtub.” 

Lux’s hand stays hovering over the doorbell, shaking. It’s deceptively plain, just a normal white button. Nothing fancy. 

_Maybe Xayah’s not home. Maybe we should just turn around right now, text Soraka to pick us up. Or just fly home, leave the boxes here_ ! _She’d see them eventually, bring them inside_. 

“Yo, Luxy, what’s the hold up?” Jinx sniffs. “We’re gonna become star popsicles if we wait out here much longer." 

Neeko takes Lux by the wrist and pushes her hand forward until her finger is pressing the button. 

“Boop!” 

She lets go while grinning mischievously. 

Lux hears the chime of the doorbell inside, and feels like she’s aged forty years in an instant. 

The group waits. Nothing. Not even the sound of footsteps acknowledging a presence. 

Lulu walks up then, raps on the door a few times with tiny mittened fists. 

Again they wait in silence but the front door remains shut. 

“Well, we tried. C’mon Loops, let’s go get some hot chocolate.” Jinx drops her cardboard box to rest on top of Lux’s, stretches, and turns to leave the porch. 

“Giving up already?” Ezreal blows a raspberry, setting his box on the porch. The wood creaks and he glances down nervously, but it holds. Lux blows out her cheeks and sets hers next to his, wiping the feeling of worn-down cardboard off her hands. 

Jinx pouts, spinning back with a cocked hip to frown at him. “No!” 

“Sure seems like it.” Ezreal replies, cocking an eyebrow at her. 

“Well, do you have any bright ideas?” Jinx asks, then snorts and elbows Lux. “Geddit Luxy? _Bright_.” 

Ezreal blinks, then looked around. “Is she even home? Do we know? It looks like all the lights are off.” He asks, making a vague gesture to the slightly overgrown place that was probably a driveway once. “It’s not like she uses a car or anything.” 

Lux wouldn’t be surprised if Xayah kept the house in perpetual darkness anyway. Seemed like her aesthetic. 

“Can she even drive a car? She’s got like. Bird feet.” Jinx pointed out, looking thoughtful - usually not the safest expression to find on her. 

A pause as everyone contemplated their feet. Lulu starts to do toe touches. After a moment, Neeko joins in. 

“Maybe just go peek in a window?” Lux offered, “We’ll probably see her inside won’t we?” 

They leave their assorted boxes on the front step and start strolling about the house, making paths through the calf-deep snow. Most of the windows were far too high up to reach without flying, and looked like blinds or curtains were drawn over them. 

“Why does she have all the curtains drawn in the middle of the day?” Jinx complains, “Is she a vampire or something?” 

“Look!” Lulu points to a last window before where the fenced off backyard cuts the house in half. “It’s open!” 

From where they stand Lux can see what looks to be a fridge. _Was Xayah airing out the kitchen?_ Her heart warms in solidarity. _She must be a bad cook like me_. 

For a moment nobody steps forward. 

“So… who volunteers as tribute?” Jinx pops her gum. 

“What?” Lux’s head snaps to look at Jinx in alarm. 

“To break in, _duh_.” 

“I thought we were just going to peek - “ 

“ - I’m not going in first, she’ll probably stab me. Lulu might get distracted, and Neeko can go invisible briefly, she’s probably the best at stealth out of all of us.” Jinx concludes. She claps her hands together. “So I vote Ezreal.” 

“I’ll do it!” Ezreal perks up; Jinx glared at him balefully as he shoots finger guns back at her. _She was hoping for a fight out of it_. Lux sighs, watches her breath fog white in the air. 

“So what’s the plan? Just see if she’s home?” He asks still facing the rest of their small group, walking backwards towards the window. 

_Ahri was right. This is a bad idea_ . Lux bites her lip. _This isn’t going to be like Thanksgiving. This time, everything will go right and everyone will have a great time_ . _I’m sure of it_. 

****

“Maybe unlock the front door? If she’s not home we’ll just decorate a little. Make it a surprise.” She says. “She’ll love it.” 

“I bet.” Jinx has her eyes locked on the window, bouncing up and down like a sports fan watching the superbowl. The other two are hardly paying attention; Lulu is attempting to roll up enough snow to make a hasty mini-snowman while Neeko is on her knees in the snow, assisting with the process. 

Ezreal grips the frame and pulls himself up and through the window with ease, sits on the counter on the opposite side a few seconds before sliding off. 

“So far so good.” He calls back. “I don’t think she’s home.” 

Lux moves closer to the window to get a better view as the blonde disappears out of the kitchen. 

He yells out in alarm. 

“Ez!!” Luxanna clutches the window sill with her fingers. “What’s wrong?!” 

_Xayah wouldn’t really attack any of us, right_ ? 

She can hear something that sounds like… growling? Jinx abruptly shoves in next to her to try to get a better look through the window, grinning ear to ear. 

_Oh. Rakan_ . 

Lux pushes Jinx to the side and climbs through the window, Jinx grabs for her arm but she slips free. 

“Ez are you okay!?” She can feel her magic at her fingertips. It would only take a few seconds to transform, if needed. Her hands open and close - the palms are too empty without her baton. 

“Y-yeah! It’s - Easy star-bro, easy!” 

Lux finds Ezreal in the front hall, lying on his stomach. The shade is pinning him to the floor, knees on his back and pushing his caught wrists onto the carpet runner. It’s growling lowly, its face close to the back of Ezreal’s head. 

“Get off him!” Lux shoves at the creature’s back, retracts her hands as soon as she touches it. 

It feels… inhuman. Smooth and half-solid. Cold, like it was sucking the heat out of her flesh as she had touched it. 

Lux lights a harmless wisp in her hand, throws it towards them both. When she snaps her fingers it pops like a small firework, a useless can-trip. 

The shade drops down with all of its weight with a startled yelp, and Ezreal makes a sound like a bag of flour being punched. 

Rakan climbs off of Ezreal then, takes his ankle into his mouth, and then starts to drag him away, over to the living room, knocking her back against the wall as he runs past her. Lux looks to the front door, then towards the living room. _Should I unlock it for back-up? No. Time is of the essence_. 

She pulls another wisp into her palm instead and races after them into the living area. 

It’s easily ten times warmer in the living room than the rest of the house. The shade has left Ezreal lying, groaning, on the hardwood in front of the chesterfield and is now curled up on the cushions next to a very unimpressed-looking Xayah. 

A fire is crackling in the hearth, there’s a pop of splitting wood, and she watches the shade flinch further into the cushions at the sound. 

“Yo Luxy, is he dead or wha - “ Jinx practically bangs into Lux from behind, skittering in on candy-cane striped stocking-ed feet. 

“ -What the hell are you doing in my home?” Xayah is in an over-sized, dark grey cable-knit sweater that reaches nearly to her knees. It’s hanging off of her, practically a tent on the slender guardian. Her fleecy purple pajama bottoms seemed to fit her much better, though the hems looked _off_ , and seemed to bunch a bit strangely near her groin. _Were they on backwards_? Lux wonders. _Is she not used to human pants_? Xayah’s hand occasionally goes to scratch over the shade’s head, as if the gesture soothed him. 

“Uh… Christmas..?” Lux says lamely, as if it explains anything. It probably wasn’t the answer Xayah was looking for. The woman’s eyes narrow further. 

“Christmas.” She says flatly. “You broke into my house. Because of _Christmas_.” 

Lux swallows. 

“Listen lady, we just came to help decorate. We brought a bunch of stuff for ya.” Jinx puts a hand on her hip. 

“Then take it back with you. We don’t want it.” 

The front door opens and shuts. Rakan startles on the couch, goes from being curled up to crouching in an instant, but Xayah makes a shushing sound at him and he settles back down. 

“Who else did you drag with you?” 

Neeko and Lulu enter the living room seconds later, tracking snow with their boots. 

“How did you get in?” Jinx asks. 

“The door was unlocked!” Neeko cheers. “It was no fun, I wanted to go through window like you both. Can we exit through window, later?” 

“All of you, out.” Xayah stands then, steps over the Ezreal-lump on the floor and starts making shooing motions towards the other guardians. “Thanks but no thanks. One forced Valoran holiday was enough to last me for several years.” 

“No no no, this time will be better! I promise! Not like Thanksgiving at all!” Lux protests desperately. “I didn’t let Jinx anywhere near the turkey this time!” 

“You’re tracking snow all over my floor.” Xayah continues to push them towards the front door. 

“Please! No cooking, okay? We won’t be long, just let us decorate a little. You don’t even have to help!! No one should be alone for the holidays, especially not on Christmas Eve - “ 

“I’m. Not. _Alone_.” Xayah grits out, and shoves them harder one final time before stepping back. 

The front door opens again. Lux turns to look. Lulu is carrying a box much bigger than her, the one Ezreal had been tasked with carrying earlier. She wobbles on unsteady legs, but walks past all of them to place it down in the crossroads of the hallway with a satisfied little _hup_! Then she smiles up at Xayah, proudly. 

Xayah pinches the bridge of her nose, and sighs. 

“Fine. You all get one hour. I’ll be in my room, pretending you don’t exist.” She turns, heading for the stairs. Lux can see the draw strings of her pants once she turns around before she adjusts the caught sweater and lets it hang back down around her. The shade practically jumps off the couch in his rush to follow her. 

“Thank-you. You won’t regret it!” Lux calls after her, then runs out to the porch and grabs another box, Jinx yawns but eventually follows suit. 

“ - and mop up the snow you tracked everywhere!!!” 

-=-()-=-=()-=-()-=- 

It’s not long before Jinx gets bored of decorating, and starts wandering around the house instead, holding out the same sprig of garland she’s had in her hands for the last ten minutes, pretending to search for the ‘perfect spot’ as an excuse to check out everything in the newly refurbished house. 

“Guys, you gotta come here and check this out! Dude, all she eats is peanut butter. There’s at least ten jars in this pantry. Was there a sale or something?” Jinx calls out from the kitchen. 

“Jinx! Stop snooping and help please. You’re being rude!” Lux calls back, trying to untangle a line of clear Christmas lights, before passing the finished result to Ezreal. She hears the sound of a squeaky door closing, and an exasperated huff, but she starts walking back towards the rest of the guardians. 

On Jinx’s way back to the living room Lux sees her stop on the landing at the foot of the stairs, turning her head to the side curiously. Then she whips around and starts gesturing hurriedly at her. 

Lux places the decorative candle she was holding down on an end table, and goes to join Jinx. 

“What?” She asks, voice a little short. _Jinx should be helping! Not fooling around!_

“Shhh! Just _listen_.” Jinx whispers back, maniacal smile on her face. She points to her ear, and then to upstairs. 

Standing here, Lux can barely hear Xayah from her room on the second floor. _Was she arguing_? 

“Stop it. We’re not doing this now - “ 

Jinx covers her mouth, holding back a giggle. 

“After, okay? Stop - I said after they _leave_ , Rakan!” 

Lux stares up, holding her breath as if that would be loud enough to cover up the bickering. _Ahri was right. Xayah really had lost her mind. What could be gained arguing with a shade? It had no higher consciousness, basically an animal. At least according to Janna and Syndra._

_What was she_ …? 

“Taking a break ladies?” Ezreal saunters over, fully recovered from the earlier episode. He has a wreath of poinsettias resting on top of his head like a crown. Neeko and Lulu both had crowns to match. They were supposed to surround the decorative candles, but they were taking a more _avant-garde_ approach. 

Both Lux and Jinx flip around to shush him at the same time. 

He holds up his hands in surrender. 

“Jeez, I get it! We’ll decorate the tree on our own. Enjoy your… whatever it is you’re doing.” 

There’s a yelp, high-pitched and sharp like a dog’s, and then the thump of something heavy hitting the floor right above them. 

Lux’s eyes widen, she looks to Jinx; the red head’s grin falters. The thump was loud enough for Ezreal to hear in the living room, he sends Lux a questioning look, but she only sucks in her cheek, shakes her head at him. He shrugs, then lifts up Lulu so she could put a bauble on one of the higher branches of their artificial tree. 

Nothing else for several seconds, then they hear Xayah again, though it’s much quieter. 

“Wait, come back! Are you okay?” 

Jinx is gnawing on her bottom lip now too. Lux inhales deeply - _we shouldn’t be listening to this. It’s none of our business._

Then, almost too hushed to hear; 

“ _I didn’t mean to_ -” 

Lux pulls away then, taking Jinx by the elbow and dragging her with her back to the living room. Her bff, surprisingly, didn’t resist. 

“Welcome back! I am candy now!!” Neeko has changed the colour of her skin to be striped like a candy cane, and is giggling like a maniac. Lux tries to laugh, but it comes out flat. Jinx wanders over to an empty box and takes out a set of matching carved reindeer. She places them both silently on the shelf above the fireplace. 

They manage to empty the second box of decorations before they hear footfalls heading down the stairs. 

Xayah first, her ears pulled low against her head. _She seems… tired. Thin? Were the eye-shadows there before_? _Her eyes that red before_? 

Xayah pulls up her sweater, hiding her protruding collar-bones before locking eyes with Lux, and Lux immediately looks back to the tree. 

_At least she fixed her pajama pants_ . 

The place was looking more homely now. Despite Xayah living there for months, it was barren of most personal items. Not that she was expecting Xayah to put down welcome mats, or family photos. It was just… sterile. Clean. _Outside of the new claw marks all over the hardwood, that is_. Lux wonders to what extent had she cleared up her old room. 

Now the place had a modicum of personal touch. The tree is decorated fully and blinking with multicoloured lights, men of ginger and snow were sitting on tables and shelves. Large, statickly snowflake stickers were plastered about the hall, and bows and garlands were taped to just about any surface Neeko and Lulu could reach. Nobody had wanted to tell them that that stuff was normally reserved for wrapping around bannisters or window frames. 

Chatter stops when Xayah enters the living room, as if waiting for her approval. She glances around briefly, and it seems her expression softens slightly, before she grimaces and looks back away. 

“...Are you done yet?” 

“Wait! Where should I put this?!” 

Lulu climbs out of the final box, holding a sprig of artificial mistletoe. It’s pointy oval leaves were showing its age, and the red berries in the middle seemed a bit crushed from being laid near the bottom of the pile of Christmas decorations. 

Still, the sprigs were held together with a white ribbon bow, which then extended long enough to be able to be hung over some highly-trafficked doorway with just a pushpin or two. Lulu races over towards the living room arch and starts hopping up and down, holding the mistletoe high above her head. Pix makes some squeaky clicks, attempts to lift the plastic plant but it proves too heavy for the tiny familiar. 

“Let Neeko help!” The lizard scampers over to Lulu on all fours, righting herself as she takes the bundle of mistletoe. She blows her multicoloured hair out of her eyes, then stands on her tippy toes, but still is too short to reach the top of the door-arch. 

“Aw, still too short. Why we all so short?” She pouts, then blinks. “Oh, I know!” 

There’s a flash of light, her whole body obscuring and reforming in an instant. In her place, still shimmering with stardust, is Rakan. Rakan like he was months ago at first, in the park. But without the pale skin, and his hair a more saturated shade of mint, rather than turquoise blue. He’s in the same ugly Christmas sweater as Neeko, just sized up to fit someone with his build of all six feet five inches, same with the matching leggings. 

Lux gawks, jaw dropping open. 

_Is this what he looked like before? Before Zoe? Before he..._ ? 

She flounders for words to say in the sudden silence. She looks to Ezreal, then to Jinx. Both are similarly frozen, eyes wide. Lux doesn’t dare look over towards the couch. Neeko and Lulu don’t seem to notice the stillness; with her newfound height Neeko easily hangs the mistletoe up high to dangle in the archway, secured with two pushpins. 

“There! Now kissy-kissy plant is here!” She claps, as if congratulating herself, then turns to face the rest of the room, smiling excitedly. 

Even her voice sounded like his did, just slightly higher. Perhaps as if the two of their voices had been mixed together, then split, given half a form. 

Or maybe that fateful day at the park near three months ago, his taunting and jeering, hadn’t been a good sample size. Lux’s not sure. 

Wood in the fireplace crackles and pops, but the room feels as cold as the outside. 

“Get out.” 

Her voice is very quiet. But in the silent room, it carries. 

Xayah sounds hollow. She draws her arms across her chest, gathering the draping warmth of the sweater tighter around herself. It’s too big on her; like it was made for someone else. The sleeves drape past her hands despite her crossed arms. 

Goose pimples raise on Lux’s arms. She can feel her neck prickle, a cold sweat breaking out across her back. 

_The face of a ghost_ . 

Lux swallows, stepping back. Lulu is looking the opposite way, staring very hard at the top of the stairs; Lux follows her gaze to find Rakan at the top, bright golden eyes watching them from behind the banister. No, not all of them - he’s staring down at _Neeko_. He’s blocking the light streaming out from some room upstairs, she can see his claws dug into the wood. 

_Can he recognize himself?_ He seems utterly still, not even blinking. It’s unnerving. 

Xayah’s voice has her attention snapping back to her. 

“Neeko, get out of his skin. Then leave. All of you. Now.” 

Neeko seems confused. “But Neeko thought - “ 

“Get. _Out_ **.** ” Xayah snarls, dark purple tendrils peek from the high neck of the sweater, climbing up her pale throat. Neeko practically jumps, the disguise dissolving from her skin. Even Jinx seems uncertain for once, wary of risking the ire of an older, more experienced guardian. Surprisingly, it’s Ezreal who steps up, left hand raised placatingly. 

“Neeko didn’t mean anything, and we’re almost done decorating - “ 

“Are you deaf, or just stupid?” Xayah snorts, unimpressed. “Get. Out. Of. My. House.” 

After a second of nobody moving, there is a distinct, sharp noise, magic knives conjuring out of air like a sword from a sheath. Lux begins to anxiously herd out the others from the living room towards the front door, shrugging on their puffy, slightly damp winter-wear as they do so. 

Xayah doesn’t follow them to make sure they leave, but Lux closes the door loudly after they’re all out of the house to make sure she knows they’re gone. For a minute everyone stands there, under the cover of the porch. 

The sunshine of earlier had clouded over, leaving the sky overcast and broody. Tiny flakes are already beginning to fall. Lux rests a mittened hand on the rail of the porch, swipes the snow off just for something to do. 

“Well that was awkward!” Jinx chirps cheerfully - and loudly, still straightening her bright white wool hat before walking off the porch. Lux winces, then turns to Neeko. 

“Did you mean to do that?” 

Neeko frowns a bit, already following Jinx. Her rainbow knitted tail-cover left lines in the snow. 

“No, but Neeko thought she would be happy, not angry. She misses Rakan, yes?” 

Jinx cuts Lux off before she can say anything to reassure the chameleon. “Don’t worry about it Liz. I mean, we got it done right? It’s all decorated and shit now, so let’s go get hot chocolate or ice-cream or somethin!” 

“She didn’t like who he used to be…? Is he better now than before?” Lulu mumbles half under her breath, her arms are held out as she stamps her name into the snow of the front yard. She sticks her tongue out in concentration. 

_Did anyone else…?_

Lux looks to the others, but Jinx, Ez and Neeko are already walking down the driveway, hot chocolate on the brains, fueling their feet. She shakes her head. _Sometimes... Lulu is an enigma wrapped in a fuzzy coat_. _Sometimes it was best not to question it_. 

“C’mon Luxy!! Loops! If you’re last you gotta pay!” Jinx hollers, already starting a sprint towards the road. 

Lux sighs, but nobody seemed to be against it, and they’d only been there for an hour and a half or so. It would be a while before Soraka was finished her shift and could come to pick them up… something hot and sweet couldn’t hurt to pass the time. Lux didn’t want to test Xayah’s patience again right now. 

“Slow down! You’ll break your neck!” She yells back. 

Jinx whoops, hopping and spinning around as she leads their group down the snowed-over driveway. Ezreal has stopped halfway down the driveway, waiting for them. He gives them both a wave, and Lux feels her cheeks redden worse than from the cold winds. 

Finished with stamping out her signature, Lulu finally joins to chase after Jinx with leaps and bounds, Lux close behind. 

When Lux finally catches up with Ezreal, she stops. She expected him to be racing ahead to challenge Jinx for the role of leading the group through the snow, or piggybacking Lulu who was currently hopping her way through the snow blanket. 

Instead he’s still looking back, frowning up at the house so she turns too, staring up at the window. Lux follows his gaze to one of the upstairs windows, blocked by a dark blue curtain. 

“I thought I saw....” Ezreal trails off, and Lux bites her lip. 

_It’s none of our business, guardians bound by memories or not_ . 

She takes his arm. 

“C’mon Ez. Let’s go before Jinx pops a blood vessel.” 

His smile returns and they link arms, walking in companionable silence to join the others. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> See you all soon for chapter two! We hope you enjoyed~


End file.
